Despite Umno leaders dismissing the RM2.6 billion in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s bank accounts as not a big deal, Transparency International chairman Jose Ugaz said it has all the elements of “grand corruption”.

The globally renowned anti-graft fighter said grand corruption has three characteristics: it is committed by those in very high positions of power, involves huge amount of money, and has an impact on human rights.

Speaking at the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, Ugaz said the RM2.6 billion that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak received in his personal bank accounts was an example of grand corruption.

The funds transfer, Ugaz said, was comparable to illicit funds that flowed to major banks such as the United Kingdom's HSBC and France's BNP Paribas.Activists have in the past claimed that HSBC had funnelled money from illegal logging in Sarawak, while a US court had fined BNP Paribas US$9 billion for moving billions of dollars to countries labelled as sponsors of terrorism.

Last month, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) confirmed that Najib had received the RM2.6 billion from an unnamed Middle Eastern source for an unspecified purpose.

"If that money is meant to help the poor and it did not go to them, then that impacts their human rights," Ugaz told The Malaysian Insider on the sidelines of the conference.

"He has not explained, for what and where the money came from and what he was to do when he received it.

"He must also prove that the money is not illicit or that it comes from an illicit source. Political parties should not receive money that comes from illegal origins," Ugaz said.

Following revelations of the transactions into Najib's accounts, critics have demanded his resignation.

They also rubbished his explanation that it was to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis), saying the terrorist group was formed much later after 2013, when the transactions took place.

The Umno president has defended the “donation”, saying it was for his party.

Najib's supporters in Umno, such as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, had said that the funds were not a big issue, while Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor described it as “normal” for party presidents to hold funds in trust.

The RM2.6 billion “donation” has been a hot talking point among speakers at the IACC.

On Wednesday, Ugaz said Malaysia's commitment to tackle corruption could not be taken seriously as long as there was no satisfactory explanation on the matter.

He noted the replacement of Malaysia’s attorney-general "who was critical of the government", suspension of the task force probing into the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) issue, arrests of graft investigators and suspension on a newspaper.

“These are not the actions of a government that is fighting corruption," Ugaz had told the conference of top anti-graft authorities, experts and activists from around the world.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak should step down and allow investigations into the US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) transferred into his accounts to proceed without undue influence, the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) coalition has said.

UNCAC coalition chairman Manzoor Hasan said Najib staying in power could jeopardise the probe, even as the prime minister’s supporters insist that critics should simply wait for the investigation to be completed.

“In an ideal world, you would want to see the prime minister stay, and the investigation happen. But I think the reality is that if they don’t step down, the process of investigation can be influenced and could undermine the whole process.

“If you apply the natural, legal principles when a person is being investigated, normally that person steps down so a clean independent investigation can take place,” Manzoor told The Malaysian Insider when met at the sidelines of the ongoing 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) in Putrajaya.When asked whether Najib should step down, he said, “Yes, I would certainly say so for the interest of fair investigations.”

Manzoor described Najib’s decision to stay in power as “strange”, but added that it was neither new nor uncommon for a world leader to do so.

“I think this is where civil society and media can play an important role and put pressure on the government to change the principles and rules that apply,” he said.

Manzoor added that the action taken against investigating officers in Malaysia went against the spirit of UNCAC – a legally binding international anti-corruption instrument adopted by the UN general assembly in October 2013.

Malaysia signed the document on December 9, 2003, and ratified it on September 24, 2008.

“If you have to implement the convention internationally and nationally, the independence of a commission, like the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), is very critical.

“If the independence is not there, the whole investigation can be undermined, as in the case of Malaysia – with the investigating officers transferred, the leadership is arrested.”

He said agencies such as MACC were merely labelled as independent, “but, in spirit, they are controlled by the same political elite which runs the country and which is also involved in grand corruption”.

The UNCAC coalition, which Manzoor chairs, is a global network of 350 civil society organisations in over 100 countries committed to promoting the ratification, implementation and monitoring of UNCAC.

Yesterday, Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim, the chairman of Malaysia’s anti-graft advisory board, said MACC was still investigating the case and that everyone should wait for the commission to complete its probe.